Method and kit for forming an artificial nail

ABSTRACT

A method and kit for forming an artificial nail whereby a thin plastic cover is bonded to a digit nail and the bonding material is formed so as to taper from the front edge of the digit nail to the front edge of the cover. A method and kit is provided for forming an artificial nail that simulates a natural nail.

nited States Patent [191 Noskin Jan. 22, 1974 METHOD AND KIT FOR FORMING AN ARTIFICIAL NAIL [75] Inventor: Harold P. Noskin, Wantagh, NY.

[73] Assignee: Customcralt Nails, Inc., Rockville Centre, NY.

[22] Filed: Feb. 9, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 331,320

[52] US. Cl. 132/885 [51] Int. Cl A45d 40/30 [58] Field of Search 132/73, 88.5, 79; 128/132 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,633,139 3/1953 Pettey 132/73 EC-w k 3,437,831 1/1970 Jaumc 6t ill 128/132 3,478,756 11/1969 Sautlcr et a1".v 2,864,384 12/1958 Walter 132/73 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeill Attorney, Agent, or FirmMarvin Feldman; .l. B. Felshin [57] ABSTRACT A method and kit for forming an artificial nail whereby a thin plastic cover is bonded to a digit nail and the bonding material is formed so as to taper from the front edge of the digit nail to the front edge of the cover. A method and kit is provided for forming an artificial nail that simulates a natural nail.

20 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures METI-IQD AND KIT FOR FORMING AN ARTIFICIAL NAIL This invention relates to artificial fingernails which are bonded to human nails for repair, concealment, embellishment or lengthening of the natural nail. In a specific aspect this invention relates to artificial fingernails in which there is simulation of the delineation of the rearward portion and the forward extended portion of the natural nail.

Heretofore artificial fingernails were generally relatively thick, rigid members which while having the desired strength characteristics were aesthetically undesireable. Attempts were made to use thin member artificial nails but these were generally unsuccessful as any extended portion of the thin member would be readily subject to deformation and breakage and would not retain appearance with time.

Heretofore artificial fingernails were primarily for use by women whereby polish or colored materials were used to conceal the human nails. It was not known to provide an artificial nail which simulated the natural nail and need not'be colored and be aesthetically acceptable to use by men as well.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an artificial nail which simulates a natural nail.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a thin conformable nail cover which is sufficiently strong at the forward end portion to resis deformation or breakage.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an artificial nail which bonds securely to a human nail and retains the bond with the human nail growth.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an artificial fingernail that conceals foreign matter lodged beneath the natural fingernail.

It is still of further object of this invention to provide an artificial nail which retains its aesthetic value with the passage of time.

It is a further object to this invention to provide an artificial fingernail which may be clipped, filed or polished in the manner similar to that of a natural human nail.

In a broad aspect, this invention is a kit and method for forming an artificial digit nail in which a thin cover is bonded to the digit nail with a hardenable bonding agent formed to taper from the front edge of the digit nail to the front edge of the cover.

In a particular aspect this invention is a kit and method for forming an artificial fingernail which simulates a natural nail in which a thin transparent cover is bonded to and supplely conforms to the fingernail and wherein a first portion of the bonding agent is transparent and a second portion of the bonding agent is tinted to match the extended front portion of the fingernail; the second portion tapering from the front edge of the fingernail to the front edge of the cover.

The aforesaid and other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and a preferred embodiment FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a guide for forming the artificial fingernail.

Referring now to FIGS. 1,3 and 5 there is shown a womens artificial fingernail 1 formed with the digit nail 2 of finger 3. The artificial fingernail 1 comprises a thin, pliable plastic nail cover 4 of a size which the rearward portion 5 approximates the surface of digit nail 2 and is thin and pliable so as to supplely conform with the finger-to-fingernail contour. The cover 4 further comprises a contiguous front portion 6 which extends outwardly a considerable distance past the natural fingernail, so that the front edge 7 of cover 2 is spaced a considerable distance from front edge 8 of the natural fingernail 2 or toenail, that is a digit nail. Cover 4 has an inner face 9 which is covered with a hardenable or curable bonding agent 10; said hardenable bonding agent 10 covering the top surface and front edge 8 of digit nail 2, as well, so as to securely bond cover 4 to digit nail 2 upon hardening of the bonding agent.

A flexible, arcuately formed plastic guide 11 of low coefficient of friction, is employed to contour the bonding agent prior to hardening so as to form the forward lower part of the artificial fingernail. Guide 11 is formed by a curved folded sheet 12 with tabs 13 and 14 being fused or bonded so as to form a portion which may be held between the thumb and index finger of the hand of the party forming the fingernail. Further the guide 11 is formed with a curved forward edge 15 and a downwardly extending contiguous curved face portion of sheet 12. Further guide 11 is formed with an outwardly curved folded edge 16 for removing excess bonding agent as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The forward edge 15 of guide 11 is insertable beneath the edge 8 of fingernail so that the edge portions 15a and 15b curve downwardly and outwardly from the digit nail, and surface 12 contacts the front edge 7 of cover 4. By this manner of construction the bonding agent while it is still workable prior to hardening is formed to taper from the front edge 8 of the digit nail to the front edge 7 of the cover. After hardening the cover and bonding agent are integrally joined and the forward extended edge 6 of the artificial fingernail is thereby made rigid while the taper aspect permits the forward extended portion to be readily clipped and filed while retaining an aesthetically acceptable appearance of a natural nail.

The cover and/or bonding agent may include coloring agents and the cover may be polished in the customary manner.

To apply the artificial fingernail; first the fingernail is cleaned of any old nail polish and the nails are prepared in the customary manner for a manicure. A cover is selected which best conforms to the size and shape of the fingernail. As the cover is thin, trimming with a scissors is feasible if such is necessary. Thecover is then inverted so that the inner concave surface is facing upwardly so as to form a cavity. The said cavity is then filled with a workable hardenable bonding agent 10 which will be more fully described hereinafter. The cover 4 is then inverted onto the fingernail and pressed gently into place, with pressure being applied at the rearward portion in the cuticle area. When pressed into shape the artificial fingernail provides a low profile without bulky appearance (See FIG. 3). Excess bonding agent will exude from the sides and forward portion of the cover. Forward edge portion of the said guide is employed toremove the excess from the forward edge while tapering the bonding agent as aforesaid. The forward excess amount of bonding agent when removed is scooped free between edges 15a and 15b of guide 11. Guide portion 16 may be employed to remove excess bonding agent from the rearward portion 5.

After cure or hardening the artificial fingernails are trimmed, filed and colored as desired.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4 there is shown another embodiment of the present invention wherein the artificial fingernail is formed so as to simulate a natural fingernail so as to generally be applicable to men as well as women. Artificial fingernail 20 is shown as being formed with fingernail 21 of mans finger 22. As depicted artificial fingernail 20 provides a delineation 30 which simulates that of the forward extended portion 20a which is generally of a white appearance and the natural flesh portion 20b, and rearward half-moon portion 20c as well.

This aforesaid natural affect is achieved wherein cover 23 is a thin transparent plastic member with good optical properties. Further two bonding agents are employed, a first bonding agent 24 is hardenable to a transparent mass and the second bonding 25 is tinted so upon hardening forms a whitened mass viewable from above through transparent cover 23.

To form the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 4, the aforesaid method is generally applicable with the following modifications. Cover 23 is pre-fitted to fingernail 21 and a temporary line is marked on the outer surface of cover 23, at a desired line of delineation 30. The cover is inverted and first bonding agent is spread to cover the rearward portion of the delineation and the second bonding agent is spread to cover the forward portion of the bonding agent. After reinversion of the cover on the fingernail the artificial nail is formed as aforesaid.

To remove the artificial fingernail once it is secured in place the following procedure is generally applicable.

1. Clip front edge of artificial nail as close to natural nail as possible.

2. Soak nail in oil, cream, and the like, and work oil under edge of cover and bonding agent. The cover and bonding agent do not readily part.

3. Using the point of a clipper or file, gently work under cover and bonding agent at the rearward edge and clip off working forwardly.

The nail cover of this invention is preferably a thin, flexible member and preferably has a thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.015 inch. Greater or lesser cover thicknesses may however by employed if desired.

The nail cover is preferably constructed of a polymeric material and preferably a thermoplastic material as by way of example; polymethyl, methacrylate, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl butyrate. Plasticizers as well as other property modifiers may be added if desired. Other plastics may be employed such as the polycarbonates, such as the aryl and alkyl polycarbonates.

Suitable bonding agents include polymerizable agents, pressure-bonding agents, heat-bonding agents and solvent evaporation systems.

A particularly preferred bonding agent system is a two-component methacrylate system wherein one component is a finely divided polymethyl methacrylate powder coated with a benzoyl peroxide (oxidation) catalyst and a second component is liquid methyl methacrylate monomer, and N,N-dimethyl-paratoluidine catalyst activator. Normally the benzoyl peroxide is present in about 0.5 weight percent of the powder and the N, N-dimethyl-para-toluidine is present in about 1 weight percent of the monomer. To change the cure, more or less oxidation catalyst may be employed if desired.

Where it is desired to tint the bonding agent small tint quantities of generally less than 1 percent by weight of bonding agent are used. Suitable tints include by way of example, rouges, titanium dioxide, talc, and the like.

After the artificial nail is formed it has been found to remain secure for several days or more. As the natural fingernail grows outward the artificial portion remains secure to it but however a space begins to form between the edge portion of the finger from which the fingernail emanates and the rearward edge of the artificial nail. This space may be filled with the transparent form of the bonding agent which upon cure or hardening blends with the previously applied artificial nail.

The forward extending portion of the artificial nail may be clipped and filed in a customary manner. While foreign particles may become lodged under the natural fingernail the appearance of the artificial fingernail will conceal this lodged foreign matter when viewing the hand of the user from thereabove.

Thus while I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto but rather is to be within the purview of the following claims.

What l claim is: 1. A kit for forming an artificial nail on the digit of a user comprising in combination:

a. at least one thin pliable nail cover having an outer face and an inner face and a rear edge portion to cover the rearward part of the digit nail and a front edge portion to extend forward of the front edge of the digit nail;

b. hardenable bonding means for bonding said inner face to the digit nail; and

c. a guide means being formed with a edge portion insertable under at least a portion of the digit nail and a contigouous portion thereof for contactingly engaging said bonding means and said front edge of said cover prior to hardening of said bonding means so as to taper said bonding means from said digit to said cover.

2. The kit of claim 1, wherein said cover has a thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.015 inch.

3. The kit of claim 1, wherein said cover is transparent.

4. The kit of claim 3, wherein said bonding means is hardenable to a transparent mass.

5. The kit of claim 4, further comprising second bonding means hardenable to the tint of that of the front portion of the digit nail.

6. The kit of claim 5, further comprising means to scribe a line on the outer face of said cover so as to selectively delineate on the cover the forward portion of the artificial nail that simulates the natural delineation of the forward portion of a digit nail.

7. The kit of claim I, said guide means comprising a folded plastic sheet and said edge portion is a folded corner thereof.

8. The kit of claim 7, said guide means further comprising means to grip said guide means with a thumb and index finger, said gripping means being oppositely disposed from the insertable edge portion.

9. A method for making an artificial digit nail comprising the steps of:

inverting a thin pliable nail cover having an outer face and an inner face and a rear edge portion adaptably conformable with the rearward part of the digit nail and a front edge portion to extend forward of the front edge of the digit nail, so that the inner face is facing upward;

covering the inner face with a hardenable bonding agent;

pressing the cover onto the digit nail so as to spread the bond agent onto the top portion of the digit nail;

inserting guide means under at least a portion of the front edge of the digit nail and contactingly engaging the bonding agent and front edge of the cover therewith; and allowing the bonding agent to harden.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said cover is transparent.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of covering the inner face comprises the steps of covering a first portion of the inner face with a transparent hardenable bonding agent and covering a second portion of the inner face with a tinted hardenable bonding agent,

i i 'f li in tliod of claim i1, whefeiii s aid cover has a thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.015 inch.

14. The kit of claim 1, wherein said bonding agent comprises a polymerizable monomer and catalyst therefor.

15. The kit of claim 14, wherein said cover is a polymeric material.

16. The kit of claim 15, wherein said monomer is methyl methacrylate and said cover material is polymethyl methacrylate.

17. The kit of claim 1, wherein said hardenable bonding means is workable and wherein said cover is arcuately curved so that with the inner face thereof, upwardly disposed, said workable hardenable bonding means is retainable on said inner face prior to hardening of said bonding means.

18. The kit of claim 1, wherein said contiguous portion of said guide means is arcuately curved, so that when the insertable edge portion is inserted under the digit nail, the contiguous portion curves away from the digit nail.

19. The kit of claim 1, wherein said guide means further comprises means to grip said guide means with a thumb and index finger, said gripping means being oppositely disposed from the insertable edge portion.

20. The kit of claim 19, wherein said gripping means is transversely disposed to said contiguous portion. 

1. A kit for forming an artificial nail on the digit of a user comprising in combination: a. at least one thin pliable nail cover having an outer face and an inner face and a rear edge portion to cover the rearward part of the digit nail and a front edge portion to extend forward of the front edge of the digit nail; b. hardenable bonding means for bonding said inner face to the digit nail; and c. a guide means being formed with a edge portion insertable under at least a portion of the digit nail and a contigouous portion thereof for contactingly engaging said bonding means and said front edge of said cover prior to hardening of said bonding means so as to taper said bonding means from said digit to said cover.
 2. The kit of claim 1, wherein said cover has a thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.015 inch.
 3. The kit of claim 1, wherein said cover is transparent.
 4. The kit of claim 3, wherein said bonding means is hardenable to a transparent mass.
 5. The kit of claim 4, further comprising second bonding means hardenable to the tint of that of the front portion of the digit nail.
 6. The kit of claim 5, further comprising means to scribe a line on the outer face of said cover so as to selectively delineate on the cover the forward portion of the artificial nail that simulates the natural delineation of the forward portion of a digit nail.
 7. The kit of claim 1, said guide means comprising a folded plastic sheet and said edge portion is a folded corner thereof.
 8. The kit of claim 7, said guide means further comprising means to grip said guide means with a thumb and index finger, said gripping means being oppositely disposed from the insertable edge portion.
 9. A method for making an artificial digit nail comprising the steps of: inverting a thin pliable nail cover having an outer face and an inner face and a rear edge portion adaptably conformable with the rearward part of the digit nail and a front edge portion to extend forward of the front edge of the digit nail, so that the inner face is facing upward; covering the inner face with a hardenable bonding agent; pressing the cover onto the digit nail so as to spread the bond agent onto the top portion of the digit nail; inserting guide means under at least a portion of the front edge of the digit nail and contactingly engaging the bonding agent and front edge of the cover therewith; and allowing the bonding agent to harden.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said cover is transparent.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of covering the inner face comprises the steps of covering a first portion of the inner face with a transparent hardenable bonding agent and covering a second portion of the inner face with a tinted hardenable bonding agent, said first and second portions being transversely delineated to correspond with the delineation of front extended portion of a natural digit nail, said tinted bonding agent being bonded to the front edge of the digit nail.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein said cover has a thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.015 inch.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein said cover has a thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.015 inch.
 14. The kit of claim 1, wherein said bonding agent comprises a polymerizable monomer and catalyst therefor.
 15. The kit of claim 14, wherein said cover is a polymeric material.
 16. The kit of claim 15, wherein said monomer is methyl methacrylate and said cover material is polymethyl methacrylate.
 17. The kit of claim 1, wherein said hardenable bonding means is workable and wherein said cover is arcuately curved so that with the inner face thereof, upwardly disposed, said workable hardenable bonding means is retainable on said inner face prior to hardening of said bonding means.
 18. The kit of claim 1, wherein said contiguous portion of said guide means is arcuately curved, so that when the insertable edge portion is inserted under the digit nail, the contiguous portion curves away from the digit nail.
 19. The kit of claim 1, wherein said guide means further comprises means to grip said guide means with a thumb and index finger, said gripping means being oppositely disposed from the insertable edge portion.
 20. The kit of claim 19, wherein said gripping means is transversely disposed to said contiguous portion. 